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U.S. | I'm a Death Row Pastor. They're Just Ordinary Folks

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In the early 1970s I was a North Carolinian, white boy from the South attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and working in East Harlem as part of a program. In my senior year, I visited men at the Bronx House of Detention. I had never been in a prison or jail, but people in East Harlem were dealing with these places and the police all the time. This experience truly turned my life around.

Prosecutors seek death penalty against parents in Surprise toddler's death

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Carlos Cruz, Rosemary Velasco
Carlos Cruz, Rosemary Velasco
Prosecutors have filed papers to seek the death penalty against two Surprise parents accused of killing their 3-year-old daughter, officials said Monday.

Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokesman Jerry Cobb said his office has filed the intent to seek the death penalty against Carlos Cruz and Rosemary Velazco in the death of their daughter, Alexandra Velazco-Tercerro.

Alexandra weighed only 15 pounds when she was found unresponsive at her family's home near Greenway Road and Grand Avenue. Police reported that she had a broken knee and head wounds so severe that her skull was exposed. Alexandra was pronounced dead shortly after being hospitalized May 23, one week before her fourth birthday.

Cruz and Velazco were both charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse. Two other children in the home were placed with the Arizona Department of Child Safety. The family had previous contacts with DCS dating back to 2011, authorities said.

Cobb said a date for the couple's upcoming trial has not been set.

Cruz, 28, and Velazco, 36, remain jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail each and have declined requests to be interviewed by The Arizona Republic.

Source: Arizona Republic, Whitney M. Woodworth, Sept. 21, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Arizona, USA
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